Patient & Visitor Info

It is the philosophy of UM Charles Regional Medical Center that “family”, as defined by the patient, is an important component of the patient’s psychosocial support system. We believe that in many cases, the presence of family can help the patient to heal. It is also important for each patient to have a trusted family member or friend to serve as an advocate. If you plan to be a visitor at UM Charles Regional Medical Center we ask, for the comfort and safety of all our patients, your cooperation with the following visitor guidelines.

General Guidelines

Patients have the right to identify a family member, friend, or other individual to be present with him/her for support during the course of their stay, unless the individual's presence infringes on others' rights, safety, or is medically or therapeutically contraindicated.

Visitors must follow all established infection control policies as they relate to the patients they are visiting. The clinical staff are responsible for education of all visitors as it applies to infection prevention and hand hygiene. Visitors may not visit a patient if they have an illness or an infection that the clinical staff feels may pose a threat to the patient.

General visiting hours are 12:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Quiet hours will be observed from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and 10:00 pm to 6:00 am daily to support healing and recovery for our patients.

No more than 2 visitors per room at any one time to avoid overcrowding of the bedside area.

Patient's significant other or family member/caregiver (1) may remain at patient bedside until 11:00 pm when clinical staff feels this is beneficial for the patient. Overnight accommodations of visitors should not be expected.

Visitors should not bring gifts and personal items to patients without first checking with patient care staff, including patients' drugs, medications, herbal supplements, alcohol, smoking materials or tobacco of any kind, including e-cigarettes, or weapons.

Visitor Rights and Responsibilities

Anyone acting in a disorderly fashion, creating a disturbance, or in any other way disrupting patient care or safety, will be requested to leave or may be escorted from the Medical Center by Security.

Smoking by anyone anywhere in the Medical Center, or on the grounds is prohibited by law.

Patient Visitation Guidelines

Main entrance hours are 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. The main entrance is locked at 8:00 pm, the Emergency Department entrance is the only entrance open after 8:00 pm.

Emergency Department entrance is open 24 hours a day.

Visitors to specialty areas (such as OB and Pediatrics) between 8:00 pm and 5:30 am must report to the Security Office located in the Emergency Department entrance area. Visitors must sign a log sheet that clearly indicates their destination. Security will verify the presence of the patient and notify the nursing unit.

Children under the age of 13 must be supervised by an adult at all times.

In the event of an infectious disease event visiting hours may be restricted.

Maternity Visiting Hours

Visitors need to ring the doorbell in both the Birthing Center and 1 East in order to gain admission

All visitors must be able to identify the patient by their full name prior to entering the unit and must sign in at the desk.

Up to (3) people shall be permitted to visit a laboring patient in the Birthing Center.

Visitation during delivery may be limited. After delivery, there may be unlimited visitation at the discretion of the patient and nursing staff.

Visitation on 1 East is according to patient preference, and at the discretion of the nursing staff.

On 1East the designated support person (wearing the matching identification band) will have unrestricted visitation rights 24 hours a day. If the support person is not the significant other, they must be at least 18 years of age.

Please note that visiting hour guidelines may be altered during flu season and at the discretion of the Nurse Manager.

Intensive Care Unit

Visitors must use the telephone in intensive care unit hallway to gain entry. Visitation may be altered or reduced at the nurse’s or doctor’s discretion.

Pediatric Patients

We encourage a parent or adult member of the immediate family to stay with Pediatric patients to participate in care, as appropriate, in coordination with clinical staff.

Waiting Rooms

Waiting Rooms for visitors are located in the following areas:

Main Lobby

Same Day Surgery (for the family of surgical patients)

Birthing Center (for the family of obstetric patients)

Intensive Care Unit (for the immediate family of ICU patients)

2 South

3 South

Emergency Department

Outpatient Radiology/Laboratory area

Children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult at all times in any area of the facility.

UM CRMC prohibits the use of tobacco products within the building or on the grounds of UM CRMC.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recognize this hospital for achieving 85% or higher compliance with all Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Achievement Measures and 75% or higher compliance with five or more Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Quality Measures for two or more consecutive years and achieving Time to Thrombolytic Therapy ≤ 60 minutes 75% or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.

*ED wait time represents a one-hour rolling average updated every 15 minutes and is defined as the time of patient arrival until the patient is escorted into the room where treatment begins. Patients are triaged at arrival and seen in priority order based on their presenting complaint(s) and reason for visit. Because new patients arrive frequently, this is not a guarantee and your personal experience may vary significantly from the posted times. This is provided for informational purposes only. Online check-in is not intended for life-threatening, debilitating or emergent conditions. Users are subject to the same triage processes as all Emergency Department visitors and treatment may be delayed to accommodate patients requiring more immediate treatment.